


Rockin' Around the Christmas Three

by platonic_boner



Category: Dark Matter (TV)
Genre: Christmas, Fluff, Lots of kissing but it's mostly platonic, M/M, Raza Crew
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-18
Updated: 2018-12-18
Packaged: 2019-09-22 11:51:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17059268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/platonic_boner/pseuds/platonic_boner
Summary: Mistletoe!





	Rockin' Around the Christmas Three

**Author's Note:**

> This isn’t exactly a sequel, but takes place in the same universe as my other fics Secret Satan and Piece of Cake. If you haven’t read those, just know that Three was pretty cantankerous last Christmas, and that he’s been voluntold to do all the cooking on the Raza.

It’s a week before Christmas. Six is alone in the mess, eating an early breakfast, when Five and Android come in with a roll of heavy-duty tape and a piece of some sort of plant on a string.

“What’ve you got there?” Six asks.

Five holds up the plant with a grin. “Mistletoe,” she says. 

“Is that really necessary? Or…a good idea?” Six doesn’t know for sure how Solara or Adrian will react to mistletoe, but he can definitely picture this ending with a broken nose - most likely Three’s - or a broken heart.

Most likely his.

“Absolutely,” Five says cheerfully, dragging a chair from the table to underneath the door frame. “For Christmas spirit!”

“Although mistletoe is poisonous, it is not traditional to ingest it; therefore, this should be perfectly safe,” Android adds.

Neither of those statements is reassuring.

Five can’t reach the top of the doorframe even with the help of the chair. Noticing her difficulty, Android picks her up, easily lifting her high enough to reach. Five sticks the mistletoe up with a piece of tape, positioning it so that it’ll be easily visible to anyone passing through the doorway, but won’t get caught in the door when it opens or closes. 

“Good?” she asks.

“Great,” Six says weakly.

Android sets her down gently, and - beneath the mistletoe - Five stands on her toes to kiss Android’s cheek.

Six flees the kitchen before the inevitable chaos begins.

*

Nobody’s nose gets broken. Instead, Solara finds some platform boots that take her from being roughly Six’s height to towering over _everyone_ , and magnanimously bestows forehead kisses from on high.

It’s terrifying.

As for broken hearts…the jury’s still out on that issue, because Three is absolutely delighted by the mistletoe. Now, on one hand, Six is glad Three’s got a better Christmas spirit this year than last - although honestly, it’s not like he could’ve gotten much worse. But at the same time, Six almost wishes Three would go back to being a Grinch, instead of being enthusiastic and … okay. Fine. _Adorable_.

Three lies in wait in the kitchen for anyone coming down the hall, and then bounds out to meet them in the mess doorway. Now, Six is a pretty sensible guy. Normally, he’d avoid being in the mess with his unrequited crush doling out kisses to passersby. But Three isn’t just spending the entire day in the kitchen because he’s decided the mistletoe is the best thing ever. He’s their chef, and Christmas involves a lot of baking. Three’s churning out cookies and cinnamon rolls and candy cane brownies. Six had volunteered to help him before the mistletoe showed up, and he’s not going to break his promise to Three now.

Even if it involves watching Three kiss everyone on this crew except for him.

*

At lunchtime, Six and Three are sitting at the mess table, decorating cookies.

When Three hears heels coming down the hallway, he jumps up and waits for Two in the doorway with a huge grin on his face.

Two crosses her arms. “I’m pretty sure lurking under the doorway is against the rules, or at least frowned upon.”

Three shrugs. “ _I’m_ pretty sure the only rule is that you have to let me kiss you.”

He leans down and drops a light kiss on the tip of Two’s nose, then pulls back and beams at her. Two gives him a genuine smile and a light shove. Three moves out of her way, going to sit back down with their cookies.

Two serves herself lunch, and sits down at the other end of the table from them. As she eats, her lips keep twitching up into a small smile, and Three looks particularly pleased.

Six is just happy they’re happy, and not experiencing any other emotions at all.

*

Five also drops by for lunch, and of _course_ Three’s sweet with Five. That’s a given with Three these days. He’s changed a lot from the asshole who woke up from a stasis pod with his guns already in his hands, and that’s never more obvious than in the way he treats Five. Case in point: when he meets her under the mistletoe, Three picks her up, swings her in a circle, and kisses the top of her green head. Five laughs delightedly, and nobody can keep from cracking a smile.

Six loves this whole crew. His heart feels warm and full seeing Two smiling at her crewmates, and Android clearly happy in her android way, and Five laughing. The problem is that Three laughing as he swings their kid around also warms his heart, but in a different way. The others he just wants to take a picture of, to keep this moment forever. Three, he wants to march over there and plant a kiss on his mouth.

The thing is, Six _could_. Three’s put Five down and is standing under the mistletoe still, just watching – enjoying the moment as much as Six, maybe – and Six _could_ go over there.

Three’s eyes meet his, and Six’s heart skips a beat and then starts hammering. Three quirks an eyebrow at him, invitingly.

Six looks away fast. He’s not going over there. He’s not messing up this family by kissing Three. These kisses don’t mean to Three what a kiss would mean to Six, and he’s not… doing that.

*

The baking and decorating continues well into the afternoon. It’s fairly uneventful - aside from another intimidating encounter with Solara and her forehead kisses - until Three gestures to his own face as he tells Six, “You’ve got some icing on your face.”

Six reaches up and rubs at his face.

“Other side,” Three says.

Six switches sides. Three watches him with a small smile, then shakes his head and huffs a laugh. “Just let me get it.”

Six stops breathing as Three swipes a thumb across his cheek. They’re very close for a moment that seems to go on for a very long time, and Six tries not to think too hard about Three’s warm blue eyes or the way his smile makes his lips look so inviting. Three leans back with a surprisingly large amount of green frosting on his thumb.

He pops it in his mouth. 

Six is still too busy trying to remember how to breathe, so he forgets not to stare. At least Three doesn’t guess what Six is actually thinking, and instead assumes Three’s judging him.

“What? I’m not wasting good food,” he says, with an easy shrug.

Six _needs_ to escape this kitchen.

It’s cowardly, but he slips out while Three’s stuck to the stove because the fudge is at the stage where it needs to be constantly stirred. 

Six leans on the wall outside the mess and shakes his head. He can _not_ be this much of a mess because Three’s giving away platonic kisses and... and eating frosting off of Six’s face. Six is a grown man, and is going to act like one from now on.

*

Six doesn’t avoid the kitchen forever. This isn’t because of his resolution to act like a sensible adult; it’s because that’s where the food is, and he’s hungry. He does, at least, manage to slip past the mistletoe just before Three gets there.

“I’ll catch you next time!” Three says, as he scrambles towards the door in time to catch the last crew member to arrive for dinner.

Adrian looks mildly terrified to be caught under the mistletoe with Three. Three gives him a big grin, though, the type it’s impossible not to respond to - Six would know. Adrian isn’t immune - his terror yields to a nervous smile.

Three puts one hand at Adrian’s waist, the other around the back of his neck, and raises his eyebrows.

“Go on,” Adrian says, and while Six thinks the breathlessness is nerves, it’s not Three-is-a-terrifying-criminal nerves.

Three dips him. 

Adrian shrieks. “Don’t drop m-umph.”

He’s cut off by Three’s mouth descending on his. It’s a very showy kiss: Three’s dipping Adrian back far enough that Three’s hands are the only thing keeping Adrian standing. 

Six wants that. He wants that to be _him_. Well, he doesn’t actually want Three to try to dip him - Six likes not being bruised, thanks - but he wants Three to want to do that with him. And he knows Three doesn’t. He knows he’s too soft and too idealistic and not selfishly loyal enough for Three. And that hurts.

Six doesn’t know why he’s watching this kiss - which seems to be lasting far longer than a mistletoe kiss needs to - when it’s this agonizing to witness. But somehow he can’t pull his eyes away any more than he can stop his heart from aching.

By the time Three lets Adrian up, they’re both flushed and their lips are red and puffy. 

Adrian pats Three’s chest. “Thanks, big guy. You’re a pretty good kisser.”

“You’re not terrible yourself,” Three says.

Six sits down at the table, and doesn’t look at anything - especially not Three and his pink face and his lips.

 

*

After dinner, Six takes his time leaving the mess. He helps Android with the dishes. He and Solara have a long conversation about military tactics, until they both start yawning, and she decides to head to bed. He asks Five to start teaching him how to cheat at poker - knowledge which he doesn’t intend to use for purposes other than catching Five when _she_ cheats, but her sleight of hand is so good that he’s not sure the lesson is going to help.

Finally, Five yawns and declares him hopeless, and gets up to go to bed. Three moves to catch her under the mistletoe - as he has for everyone leaving the mess tonight.

He drops a kiss on the top of her head. “Goodnight, kiddo.”

“Night!”

Then it’s just Three and Six in the mess. Three leans against the wall, by the door and the mistletoe. He takes a breath like he’s about to say something, but then releases it without speaking. 

Finally, he shakes his head. “All right, I’m leaving,” he says, sounding a little subdued. “Night, Six.”

He’s gone before Six can even reply.

*

Food be damned, Six avoids the mess as much as possible. If he drops a few pounds, he can gain them back. (Hell, if he listens to Android, it might be a good thing.) If he fucks up his relationship with Three, a solution may not be as easy.

Eventually, though, he has to get supplies. He makes sure the mess is empty and slips inside.

He isn’t really paying attention to his surroundings as he’s leaving the mess with a green protein bar in hand, and he walks into Three in the doorway. He automatically reaches out to steady Three. Then he realizes he’s holding on to Three’s arms, and Three’s grinning delightedly up at him and the mistletoe overhead is daring them onwards. When Three leans in, Six’s heart speeds up and then swoops.

Here’s the thing: as jealous as Six is of the kisses the others - especially Adrian - are getting from Three, Six doesn’t want Three to kiss him. Not like this. Not when he doesn’t actually mean it, and he’s only doing it because a little twig told him to. 

Six lets go of Three like a hot coal and takes a large step back.

“Uh, okay,” Three says, holding up his hands. “Not gonna plant one on you if you don’t wanna. How about a kiss on the cheek?”

Three points to his own face, tilted towards Six, and yeah, Six would like to kiss Three’s cheek like they’re an old married couple and when they pass each other in the halls they can just give each other kisses, but he’s not going to do that to his emotions.

“I need to go,” he says, and pushes past Three to leave the mess.

The look of hurt on Three’s face as Six leaves is painful, but not as painful, Six thinks, as it would be to know what it felt like to kiss Three, and never be allowed to do it again.

*

Six gets up early so he can grab breakfast before Three’s awake. He’s just going to avoid being near Three and the mess for the next couple of days, until after Christmas when Five takes the mistletoe down. Three won’t get it, but it’s better than shoving him away again. Especially because Six isn’t actually sure he _would_ shove Three away if Three looked up at him like that again, and _that_ is something to be avoided at all costs. He’ll grovel a bit after Christmas, and hey – Three forgave him for turning them all in to the GA. It can’t take longer than that for him to forgive Six for being weird about mistletoe.

Anyways, that’s what’s Six is thinking when he reaches the mess doorway, and sees Three sitting inside.

He freezes.

He’d turn and go, but Three’s already looking up. Damn.

Six ducks very quickly through the mistletoe.

Three sighs. “Look, I can’t help but notice you’re happy to kiss anybody but me, so… did I do something to piss you off? Because I can’t fix it if I don’t even know what I’ve done.”

“No!” Six says quickly. “I’m not mad. It’s just…”

He shouldn’t have started that sentence. There’s nowhere good for it to go: “It’s just that I can’t let you kiss me, because then I’d know what I’m missing” is way too honest and would ruin their friendship, but there’s no other good explanation for Six’s behaviour.

Trailing away makes Three flinch, though.

“So you’re not pissed, but you admit you’re avoiding me,” he says quietly. “Look, did I make you uncomfortable? I thought I was doing a pretty good job of keeping my feelings to myself, but if I weirded you out, I’m sorry.”

“Your… feelings?”

“Yeah.” Three crosses his arms. “My feelings. They were a surprise to me too, but hey, apparently strong, loyal, and gorgeous is attractive to me.”

Six can’t think of any better way to respond to that than heading for the door.

“Six, wait. I get that you don’t feel the same way, but can we talk instead of you ignoring me? We live on the same ship and it’s not very big and - why are you looking at me like that?”

Six is watching Three and smirking slightly from where he’s paused, in the doorway, under the mistletoe.

Three clearly isn’t taking the hint, so Six lets his eyes dart upwards to look at the mistletoe, and then he looks meaningfully back at Three.

Three’s mouth falls open a little, and then he crosses the mess in a few quick strides. His face is tilted up towards Six’s, and Six is eager to come down to meet his lips. Six pushes Three so his back’s up against the side of the doorframe, boxing him in. He slides a thigh in between Three’s legs as he licks into Three’s mouth, pressing even closer to him - 

“Oh my God!” 

It’s Five. Six jumps away from Three. 

Five’s dramatically hiding her eyes behind her hands. “I didn’t need to see that!”

“In that case,” Three says, “Maybe you should be more careful what you wish for. And by wish for, I mean personally orchestrate.”

Five crosses her arms. “You’ve been pining after each other for months. I just wanted you to stop being idiots, not make out in the hallway!”

“Fair,” Three says. He looks at Six. “Want to move our making out elsewhere?”

Five makes a retching noise.

Six grins. “Yeah, sounds good.”

**Author's Note:**

> Happy holidays! <3


End file.
